


Jericho

by lssyli0306



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, Other, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 16:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18855067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lssyli0306/pseuds/lssyli0306
Summary: Zombies.  What more can I say?J2 is a young woman who just survived her camp being overrun by zombies.  She is found by a small group of survivors going by the name of "Operation: Bitemark".  Would you believe shit could get even crazier after zombies have taken over the world?





	1. The Meeting

I ran through the red-smeared campsite that had become a graveyard for my group. The dead raced after me, weaving around flaming tents, haunting me with the faces that belonged to the people I had cared about and been responsible for. They were fresh zombies, and were just about as fast as I was. I hung a sharp right, hurtling over the body of someone that had been savaged beyond recognization, and sprinted toward the treeline. Lungs screamed and legs ached, begging for their own form of mercy. I reached the first tree I saw and planted a boot against the rough bark, launching myself just high enough to grab the closest thick branch.

The Zs snarled, mouths frothing with black, coagulated blood, some spitting out strips of flesh that once belonged to my group of companions. Bony hands reached, clawing as if they had already reached my flesh. Long fingers reached up and fingernails grazed the bottoms of my boots. A huff of breath, and I pulled myself up onto the branch, then started making my way to the next closest branch, which I was barely able to grasp with my calloused hands. Splinters bit into my palms, but I continued to white-knuckle the only thing preventing me from becoming Z chow.

Crack.

The branch shuddered in my hands, protesting against my weight. A hysterical giggle bubbled up in my chest and burst from my lips.

Damn apocalypse.

I released one hand's death grip on the wood and reached down into my boot for my long knife, and had just grasped the handle when the branch splintered further and sagged, dropping me into the crowd of my zombified people. My sprawled out weight managed to crush a few of them, turning them into undead accordions, but those few kills weren't nearly enough. I still had at least seven of them vying for me. I threw myself out of the miniature mosh pit of Zs before any of their nails or teeth could find purchase and whirled around to face my death, knife still gripped tightly in my fingers.

I took a defensive stance, and I suddenly wasn't looking at a crowd of zombies anymore. I was back overseas, faced by human enemies with long, curved knives and grenade launchers strapped to their backs. My vision blurred, tinting with panic as I looked at the mix of faces and readied myself for a fight. I lashed out with my knife, finding purchases through eye sockets and into skulls, kicking out and landing blows on chests to push my enemies back for more time. Panting, I whirled in circles, teeth gritted and muscled coiled in anticipation of another attack. I blinked through the sweat and blood that coated my face and found myself standing in the middle of a group of dead zombies.

I was back in the states in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. Crumpled bodies of people I served in the Army with, medics like me that saved so many lives, their families and friends littered the camp, staining the grass red...everyone was dead. Even their zombified forms were dead. My knees hit the ground as I gazed upon the destruction around me, devastated. My chest tore into pieces with the loss I felt. All of my people, dead. I couldn't protect them...couldn't save anyone. I fell back onto my backside, wrapping my arms around my knees and curling into myself. My blood-matted hair created a curtain of protection around me from the devastation I was surrounded by.

There's no telling how long I sat there on the ground, blinded by grief and mourning. Tears pricked at my eyes, but refused to spill over and on to my dirty face no matter how much I wanted them to. I sat, rocking slightly, back and forth, ignoring even when I heard the shuffling of feet. I would sit there until the zombies came to tear me apart, stuck in my own world of self-pity and mourning.

Let them eat me. Just make it fast.

"You think she's dead?", an older man's voice broke through my mental fog. The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention.

"Well we can't just leave her there, either way. She needs mercy if she's a Z." Steps came to me and a hand rested lightly on my back.

My muscles coiled and I was up immediately, swinging my knife at the new threat. The red-haired girl that must have touched me backed up, hands up in surrender. Another pair of hands gripped at my shoulders, attempting to restrain me. I whipped around and slammed the person down to the ground, my knife pressing against their pale throat. I stopped abruptly when I gazed up into a pair of bright green eyes, framed by dark lashes. There were sounds of protest from the other members of the group as I straddled their youngest member, teeth gritted into a snarl. The boy's eyes went wide, hands up on either side of his head to show he wasn't a threat.

"Don't hurt him, please! We were only trying to help," a man with brown hair pleaded, standing beside the dark-skinned woman. They both had the prior-military look about them with the way they held themselves, and the distrust subsided slightly. I got up off their boy, standing straight and dropping my knife to the ground.

"If you plan to kill me, just make it quick and do it already," I grunted.

"Kill you?", the older voice spoke up again. It belonged to a man with a white beard and long white hair. He was wearing suspenders, and there was a profound kindness in his eyes. 

"Oh please. Not worth our energy, sweetheart," a voice dripping with sarcasm came from a sick-looking man with dark, unruly hair. I growled at the pet name, eyes narrowing at the man.

"We're not here to kill you. We saw the smoke and thought someone might have needed help," said the woman, stepping forward now.

I coughed out a harsh laugh. "Yeah, well, you're a little too late. Everyone here is dead. 'Cept me."

"What happened here?" The redhead I attacked earlier spoke up, watching me with a guarded concern.

"This was a camp of people I served with in the Army, and their families. A couple people got into a fight over God-knows-what, and that brought on the Zs. Everyone either got shot in the head or turned..." I looked around again at the destruction. "I was their leader. Everyone thought I was best suited to it. Was only out of bootcamp for a year, and just got back from the war zone before everything went to shit. Might as well have never left", I shrugged, my voice cracking.

"I'm sorry this happened to you...but we have food and water to share until you're back on your feet, if you're interested," said the bearded man. The sick-looking one started to protest this, but the dark woman threw a backhand into his gut to shut him up.

I shrugged at this, nodding. Might as well. What did I have to lose now? My assent brought a light, kind smile to the man's face. He must have been the leader, or so I guessed.

"I'm Charles Garnett. This is Roberta Warren, Addy, Mack, Murphy, Cassandra, and the boy you slammed down is 10k." I cocked an eyebrow at this last name, but the boy he pointed out just shrugged, not giving an explanation...not that I really expected one, anyway.

"I'm Jen Jericho. Call me J2. That's what everyone else did before..." I trailed off, gesturing to the campsite around me.

"Well J2, ever been to California?," the older man, Doc, spoke up again.


	2. DIY

This was not how I wanted to die.

Anyone who has survived this long since the Zs took over knows that even a small scratch could be a death sentence. A small infection could turn you Z faster than you can say "apocalypse". So that was why my appendix trying to explode in my body was...inconvenient, at best.

I had been with the group for weeks since they found me at the camp. It took a while to get used to everyone...I wasn't used to not leading, for one. I never questioned Warren's judgement, though. She knew exactly what she was doing, and was one hell of a leader--better than I was, anyway. Doc was always enjoyable to be around. His particular brand of humor was exactly what everyone in this messed up world needs.

Addy and Mack were wonderful help, and Addy's kindness was something everyone should aspire to have. She was beautiful and sweet and I had the smallest crush on her for a while. Murphy was....well, Murphy. Being the savior of the human race couldn't have been very easy, and his sarcasm and snark showed me how scared he really was...can't say I blamed him. We had lost Garnett shortly after I joined the group in an incident with a survivor's camp and some religious zealots. That was hard on the whole group. I didn't know him long, but I knew Garnett was a good man...I mostly felt for Warren through the whole thing. It's hard to lose someone you love. Cassandra was sweet and headstrong. 10k was quiet and reserved at first, but we had become good friends in the time we knew each other, bonding over fishing and shooting Zs from the bed of the truck. He and I were very close in age but so different in our upbringings that it left a lot to talk about...not that we talked much. Neither of us was a very verbal person, but the way we behaved toward each other showed the trust and bond that developed. The words we did exchange held a lot of meaning.

That bond was about to become very useful today.

The group had split up in a town somewhere in the Midwest. 10k and I were paired up and sent to the next town over, just a couple miles away. It was here that I started to get very violently sick. I had been feeling rotten since the previous night, with small cramps around my belly button. I figured I had just eaten something that was bad, too far past the expiration date to be safe. I stopped every few minutes on the walk to the town to be sick in the dry brush that lined the roads, which was both inconvenient and very, very embarrassing to do in front of poor 10k. He held my bag for me whenever I was sick and let me take my time.

"Maybe we should just head back...." He shifted and glanced around us at the empty street as I knelt off the side of the road.

"No", I groaned. I didn't want to miss out on getting useful supplies just because my digestive system had decided to turn traitor. I got up and took a couple steps toward him before I clutched my side and doubled over. There was a sharp pain that had moved to my side, just up and to the left of my right hipbone.

10k was immediately by my side, hands out to make sure I didn't fall. "What's wrong?", he sounded alarmed, and I glanced up at him to see his pretty green eyes wide with worry.

"Damnit...I think it's my appendix." I unclutched my side and probed the area lightly with my fingertips. The area was even swollen enough to feel, and there was definitely rebound tenderness. I gagged again but managed to hold it down, not that there was anything left in me anyway. "Yeah, definitely my appendix."

"Wh-what do we do?" His hand found it's way to my side and gently rested on my own. My heart skipped for a second. Huh...when did that happen?

"I need to take it out. Let's find that medical center we saw in the map." I started walking, the pain making it difficult to match my normal long stride. 10k wound an arm around my waist, pulling my right one around his shoulders to help me along.

"Can you...do that?"

"Yeah, I know how. I was a medic while I was in the Army. Not for very long, but I know what to do." I hadn't talked much to anyone about my previous career field or where I had been, but I think 10k knew I had seen some stuff while I was in the military that I wasn't ready to tell him about.

A chorus of snarls alerted us to a large group of zombies rounding the corner from an alleyway. They saw the fresh meat and started toward us, a renewed energy taking over at the stimulus of possible food. We picked up the pace a bit and I ground my teeth to keep from groaning with the group of dead that was chasing us.

We made it to the building and I took my arm from around 10k's shoulders to reach my knife and pike a couple Zs. I dropped the knife and fell to my knees, exhausted and in pain, as 10k finished a couple more off with his slingshot. We didn't need guns alerting even more zombies of our location. He helped me back up and we rushed into the building, swiftly shutting the rusted metal door behind us. 10k pulled a thick chain from the front of his pants and went to work securing the door.

I breathed a laugh at the idea of the chain being there the whole time, attempting to suppress the flash of heat that came across the back of my neck at the idea of it.

Zs pounded at the door, eliciting a jump from the both of us.

"You carry a chain in your pants?"

He turned to me and we hustled toward a small room full of medical supplies, ensuring first that there weren't any Zs in the building. "Came in handy, didn't it?"

"I s'pose so." I pointed to a reclining chair in the corner with stuffing popping out. "Roll that over beside that table, please."

He complied and I grabbed some supplies for the task, along with some meds and antiseptic in the next supply room over. I popped a couple pills in my mouth-an antibiotic and a mild analgesic, even though neither would kick in right away. We set the table up with the supplies and I slid my shirt off, leaving myself in my dirty sports bra. 10k's cheeks turned pink under the shadow of his goggles. Another flash of warmth crawled up my neck at him seeing me shirtless, but I shook it off. We didn't have time for complicated feelings, or at least I didn't, not right now. I unbuttoned my dirty cargo pants and sat reclined in the torn up chair.

"Shit. Man I really don't wanna do this." My shaking hand grabbed the antiseptic and I took a deep breath to slow my racing heart. I turned to 10k, "Okay, I'm gonna need your help. Can you take this antiseptic and clean the scalpels and forceps?"

He nodded, trembling as he complied. I wiped my entire abdomen down, as well as the left side of my pelvis, with the antiseptic after he finished. I had only done this once before, and only because it was an emergency. Bile rose in my throat as grabbed a scalpel from 10k and took a breath to steady my hand. The scalpel bit into my skin, making a red smile as I cut. I grit my teeth and couldn't stop the muffled cry from slipping through my lips. I cut again, through the layers of muscle that lined my torso and through to my target. My head fell back in agony as my trembling hand made the final cut. 

A Z slammed into the door, creating a metallic echo throughout the building.

"Shit." I moved more quickly.

What felt like an eternity later, the traitorous organ was out, and I was rapidly losing consciousness. Too much blood had leaked from my wound, soaking through my already soiled pants and coating the floor in a vibrant red.

"10k," I gasped out, eyes rolling to seek him out beside me. "I need you to....stitch me up....lost too much blood. Can't do it myself...."

His eyes were wide as he nodded, goggles bouncing slightly. He grabbed up the supplies and got to work doing just a running stitch, but I wasn't going to be picky about the stitch pattern and scarring. In fact, the black spots were clouding my vision, threatening to take over. He finally finished a few minutes later.

"J2?" He grabbed my arm, shaking me slightly. When I couldn't get find my mouth to answer, he patted my cheek, saying my name a little louder. My eyes fluttered open as he picked me up, cradling me in his arms, and began to escape the building. 

"Good thing guys dig scars, eh?" My words were garbled, all running together. He probably had no clue what I was saying.

The last thing I saw was 10k's worried face, eyebrows creased, before the darkness pulled a blindfold over my eyes and I blacked out.


End file.
